CENTCOM NEWS RELEASE

WRAP UP

TIKRIT, Iraq – Soldiers from C Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment searched three locations simultaneously, north of Balad before dawn on Jan 17. They were looking for individuals the suspected are responsible for attacks against Coalition forces. Soldiers captured seven individuals and confiscated six AK-47 assault rifles, one bayonet, six AK-47 ammunition magazines, one shotgun and one bolt-action rifle.

C Company, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment patrol saw missile fins sticking out of the ground in Kanan in the afternoon of Jan. 17. The soldiers investigated and uncovered 146 57mm rockets. One person was detained for further questioning. It was later determined this person was not involved with the buried cache but was wanted for his suspected actions in another incident. Initial assessments indicate that the rockets had been buried prior to the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The rockets were taken to a nearby forward operating base and will be destroyed.

Information provided by an Iraqi citizen about a possible cache of mortars led soldiers to a location 1km southeast Jasimiyah in the afternoon of Jan. 17 where they found 269 82mm mortar rounds. The munitions are scheduled for destruction.

An improvised explosive device detonated prematurely in an automobile in downtown Tikrit, at approximately 10:00 p.m. on Jan. 17, killing two individuals and wounding another in the vehicle.

The wounded person was taken to Tikrit Hospital under guard. The three were apparently transporting the IED with intentions of emplacing the device. No Coalition forces or Iraqi civilians were wounded in the incident.